“Oh right. I just have two bags,” I replied quickly, finally springing into motion and striding over to my car.
Jackson insisted on carrying one of the bags, his fingers brushing mine and sending a hot little zing up my arm. I hadn’t seen Jackson in five long years, but I’d never forgotten how handsome he was. Dear God, the man was swoon-worthy and then some. Yet, I didn’t recall reacting this way to him before, even if I’d crushed on him a little when I was younger and shared a single, wild kiss one night.
That zing startled me. I had written off desire, figuring my life would be better off without it. I also figured I was pretty much ruined for it. That’s what a few years of bad sex tangled up with fear could do. It made me question everything about desire and my own judgment.
As I looked ahead to the farmhouse, I reminded myself, rather sternly, I needed this to work out. I needed a place to regroup, and this was it. Even thinking about the sudden, confusing attraction to my brother’s best friend was a bad idea.
Jackson
Shay Martin had a mere two bags with her. “I can get one,” she said, her tone a little testy when I moved to take both bags. Shay had always liked to do things for herself, so I let it go and turned with the one I already had in hand.
Moments later, we were inside the house. I led her through the sprawling farmhouse kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs, going straight to the bedroom Ash had determined would be Shay’s.
After our father passed away a few years ago, my sister and I inherited the family farm. Years back, it had been a working farm, with three generations of our family growing a variety of crops, including corn, tobacco, tomatoes, apples, and peaches. We still had the orchards, but that was all that was left when it came to farming.
In the last decade or so before our father passed away, he had wound down the farming part of it, and dedicated his time to his horses and creating an animal rescue sanctuary. Our mother had often taken in animals whenever someone asked her. Before she died, he promised her someday he’d make the farm a rescue.
Our father’s death brought me home. With the rescue program entirely nonprofit, I’d followed Ash’s lead with turning part of the property into an adventure lodge. We hosted a variety of guests throughout the year, with things slowing slightly in the winter months. We also opened up a veterinary clinic, seeing as I had my license, but I hadn’t put it to much use while I’d been overseas in the military.
Ash was only here occasionally of late and was out of town now. She was one hundred percent on board with having Shay come stay here, so she made all the decisions about which room and so on.
Stopping by the door to the guest room in question, I glanced back to Shay. “Right in here,” I said, pausing once I stepped inside and set her bag on the floor in front of the dresser.
When I looked over at Shay again, my breath was nearly knocked out of me. The early morning sunlight hadn’t done her justice. If I thought she was beautiful before, she was arresting now. Her dark blonde hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and almost reached her waist in the back. Her green eyes held mine as she looked at me, a hint of defiance entering her gaze.
Shay was on the short side and all curves. She wore fitted jeans and cowboy boots paired with a blouse. Even with her loose blouse, her breasts filled it, curves rising above the rounded neckline. Her lips were full and plump. She arched a brow as I looked at her.
“What?” she demanded.
I gave my head a little shake. “Not a thing. Ash will be thrilled to know you’re here. You must have left early. Come on downstairs when you’re ready. I’ll take a quick shower and then I can show you around.”
I walked through the door, ordering my body to ignore the sizzle of electricity in the air when I passed by her. It wasn’t until I caught her gaze out of the corner of my eye, and saw the vulnerability under the defiance, that I remembered all the reasons why she was here.
“I’ll be down in a little bit. I just want to unpack,” she said.
I’d been up for hours and on my back in the dirt, changing the oil on one of the trucks. I needed a shower to clear my head as much as to get clean. I wondered if Shay was too close to my bedroom as I stepped through the doorway at an angle across the hallway. That was a problem for another day.
Copyright © 2019 J.H. Croix; All rights reserved.
Coming Summer 2019!
This Crazy Love
If you love steamy, small town romance, take a visit to Diamond Creek, Alaska in my Last Frontier Lodge Series. A sexy, alpha SEAL meets his match with a brainy heroine in Take Me Home. It’s FREE on all retailers! Don’t miss Gage & Marley’s story!
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Into The Fire Series
Burn For Me
Slow Burn
Burn So Bad
Hot Mess
Burn So Good
Sweet Fire
Play With Fire
Melt With You
Burn For You
Crash & Burn
Brit Boys Sports Romance
The Play
Big Win
Play Me
Naughty Wish
Diamond Creek Alaska Novels
When Love Comes
Follow Love
Love Unbroken
Love Untamed
Tumble Into Love
Christmas Nights
Last Frontier Lodge Novels
Take Me Home
Love at Last
Just This Once
Falling Fast
Stay With Me
When We Fall
Hold Me Close
Crazy For You
Catamount Lion Shifters
Protected Mate
Chosen Mate
Fated Mate
A Catamount Christmas
Ghost Cat Shifters
The Lion Within
Lion Lost & Found
Acknowledgments
To my readers for always asking for the next book. I can’t adequately express just how much that means to me. Hugs to all of you.
My assistant, Erin T., has created an oasis of sanity and organization in my otherwise fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants author world. Thank you for all of your help & for being so gracious stepping into my madness to tidy it up.
Much gratitude to Jenn Wood for helping me polish this story, and to Terri D. for her eagle eyed proofreading & for her support.
To my last line of defense, my proofreading angels - Janine, Beth P., Terri E., Heather H., & Carolyne B.
To DBC who is always there in every way. To my family for supporting my dreams. And to my dogs, because unconditional love is so pure.
xoxo
J.H. Croix
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes steamy contemporary romance with sassy women and alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!
Places you can find me:
jhcroixauthor.com
jhcroix@jhcroix.com